Menta Menged
In 2005 and 2006, PMC-Ethiopia developed and broadcast a youth-focused radio serial drama aimed at motivating young people to adopt positive behaviors regarding HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and related social issues. In order to effectively address issues of adolescent parenthood and HIV/AIDS, intensive formative research was conducted prior to the launching of the program. The exchange of views made by the writers with the youth, themselves, contributed greatly toward the construction of this drama. These discussions, along with other formative research, guided PMC as to what the prominent issues were among adolescents and helped scriptwriters to identify youth cultural and linguistic features, so they could incorporate them into the drama.
Menta Menged (“Crossroads”) was produced by PMC-Ethiopia to address the issues of HIV/AIDS and adolescent parenthood. In order to relate to a larger audience, the drama unfolds in three settings: Segenet, Amoza and Tay Bete. Each place has a different level of infrastructure, standard of living, cultural/ethnic groups, as well as rural and urban neighborhoods.
Menta Menged was aired every Sunday and Wednesday evening on the National Service of Radio Ethiopia. The same programs were repeated on FM Addis, every Monday and Thursday at 3:00 p.m.
Menta Menged was produced with support from UNICEF, the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office of the government of Ethiopia (HAPCO), and the Flora L. Thornton Foundation.
